A senior member of the ruling Labour Party in the UK recently suggested that the country should legislate to ban the import of products manufactured through forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. He also called for more stringent scrutiny of the possible London listing of the fast-fashion retail e-commerce giant Shein.
Liam Byrne, a former Labour minister and influential cross-party chair of the Business and Trade Committee in Parliament, expressed his desire to see a UK version of the “Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act,” which was introduced by the US Congress in 2021.
In an email comment to Reuters, Byrne stated, “I hope the new (Labour) government can deliver on the Conservative Party’s commitment in the 2022 Queen’s Speech to strengthen legislation against modern slavery and impose higher requirements on supply chain reporting.”
Byrne emphasized that only by doing so could the new UK government reassert the country’s leadership position in fair and credible trade.
Reports from Reuters in June indicated that the Chinese fast-fashion retail e-commerce giant Shein has been preparing for a listing in London. Since then, Byrne and several other senior UK lawmakers have continuously called for enhanced scrutiny of Shein and its labor practices.
His primary objective is to summon Shein executives to appear before the committee he leads, even though the committee has not yet selected all its members.
When asked for a comment on Byrne’s statements, a Shein spokesperson stated, “Shein has a zero-tolerance policy towards forced labor; transparency across our entire supply chain is crucial to us, and we are fully committed to respecting human rights.”
The spokesperson added, “To comply with applicable laws, we not only require our contracted manufacturers to source materials solely from approved regions but also independently verify this.”
Before winning the election on July 4th, the Labour Party had expressed support for Shein’s listing in the UK, sparking a rising wave of opposition.
In July, British retail consultant and television personality Mary Portas launched an online petition urging the government to block Shein’s listing in London.
As early as June, the UK human rights organization “Stop Uyghur Genocide” initiated legal actions to prevent Shein from conducting its initial public offering in London.
(Adapted from reports by Reuters)